1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) configuration-adopting data processing system, data processing method, and storage apparatus; particularly to a data processing system, data processing method and storage apparatus where some or all disk drives (hereinafter simply referred to as ‘disks’) are non-replaceably mounted.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, there have been storage apparatuses where RAID configurations are adopted as prevention measure against data loss resulting from disk failures (see, for example, the non-patent document “A Case for Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID)” by David A. Patterson, Garth Gibson, and Randy H. Katz, University of California Berke.). There also have been storage apparatuses including spare disks for instant RAID recovery from disk failures (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1995-146760).
The foregoing storage apparatuses are based on the premise that faulty disks are replaced by built-in spare disks and new spare disks are added in the event of disk failures. Accordingly, with storage apparatuses incapable of disk replacement (hereinafter called ‘non-replaceable disk storage apparatuses’, there is a problem in that spare disks cannot be added and failure resistance degrades.
Although it is possible to mount as many spare disks as possible in non-replaceable disk storage apparatuses, it increases the cost and the size of the storage apparatuses.
This invention aims to provide a compact data processing system suitable for long-term use and capable of maintaining failure resistance without replacing disks or having to mount many spare disks; and a data processing method and storage apparatus for the data processing system.